Optimal approaches to structural reform in regional and rural local governance

The Australian experience

Bibliographic Data

ID6301774
AuthorsBrian Dollery (0000-0003-2760-865X, a University of New England , Australia), Bligh Grant (0000-0002-8055-6046), Lin Crase (0000-0002-3615-7152, b La Trobe University , Australia)
Year2006
Volume32
Issue4
Pages447-464
Publication date2006-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLocal Government Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0300-3930 • E-ISSN: 1743-9388
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03003930600793029
OpenAlexW2094600948
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited9

Australian local government finds itself at the vortex of various mounting pressures, including acute funding shortages, complex intergovernmental relationships, and forced structural reform programmes, that have made the status quo unsustainable. State government policy makers have placed heavy emphasis on council amalgamations as their chief means of resolving the problems facing municipal governance. This paper argues that such reliance on the blunt instrument of municipal consolidation has been misplaced, not only because it is based on the mistaken premise that 'bigger is better' in local governance, but also because it ignores many other promising alternatives to amalgamation involving various combinations of structural change and process change better suited to the extremely diverse character of regional and rural local government in Australia

Consolidation (business · Corporate governance · Economic shortage · Economics · Government (linguistics · Local governance · Local government · Management · Political science · Premise · Status quo · Commonwealth, Australian Politics and Federalism · Community Development and Social Impact · Law · Public Administration · Rural development and sustainability · Finance